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Surgery sidelines 'disappointed' Regin for season

by
Rob Brodie
/ Ottawa Senators

Senators centre Peter Regin underwent surgery on his left shoulder last week and faces a recovery period of four to six months, though he hopes to return sooner (Photo by Andre Ringuette/NHLI via Getty Images).

Perhaps, it might be suggested, this was the kind of final chapter that was inevitable.

If not sadly fitting.

Peter Regin stood in front of the assembled media earlier today in the Ottawa Senators' dressing, his left arm in a sling, tucked closely to his upper body. His season of frustration officially now over.

"I'm very disappointed," the Danish centre said as he discussed the shoulder surgery that will put him on the shelf for four to six months. "We were all trying to end the season (well) here, myself included, so it's a big disappointment.

"But there's nothing you can do right now. I'll try to get ready for next year. That's my goal right now."

The 24-year-old Regin never truly found his footing in this, his second full season in an Ottawa uniform. He'd produced just three goals and 17 points in 55 games when he took an awkward tumble into the boards during a Feb. 19 game in Toronto against the Maple Leafs.

Senators head coach Cory Clouston suggested at the time that Regin's season might be in jeopardy and the surgery he underwent last week closed the book on it. The shoulder has given Regin trouble in previous seasons and doctors advised him that now was the time to hopefully take care of the issue for good.

"I’ve had trouble with that shoulder before," said Regin. "At some point, I would have had to get something done and when I got hurt again and got it more damaged, we finally made the decision to get it done now. Now I have lots of time before next year, so I don’t have to come back in a hurry."

Ottawa centre Jason Spezza, who missed six weeks earlier this season with a separated shoulder — he didn't require surgery — said Regin faces a long road to recovery.

"Any time you get one of those long-term injuries, it’s a mental grind as much as a physical grind," said Spezza. "I think the first few months are probably tough more mentally because you can’t do a whole lot physically. Then it becomes a physical grind, where you’re trying to get yourself back into the shape you want to be in.

"If it’s going to happen, it’s probably better that it happens now. He has the full summer and the end of the season. He should be 100 per cent come training camp next year and pretty motivated ... hopefully this is a fix for him, a long-term fix, and he doesn’t have to worry about it anymore."

"We were all trying to end the season (well) here, myself included, so it's a big disappointment. But there's nothing you can do right now. I'll try to get ready for next year. That's my goal right now ... I'll be back skating in August and get in good shape for camp. They said four to six weeks but hopefully, it will be quicker than that." - Peter Regin

Like the team as a whole, Regin entered this season full of promise, especially in the wake of a playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins last spring in which he produced three goals and was perhaps Ottawa's best player. Call it a sophomore jinx if you will, but Regin's 2010-11 season never really got out of the starting blocks.

"It didn’t go the way I wanted for me personally. It didn’t go the way we wanted as a team, either," said Regin. "It’s been a tough year, but that’s the way it is sometimes. I think we’ll all have to regroup here in the summer, try to figure out where we can improve and come back stronger next year."

Added Clouston: "Tough season for him. Right from camp, I don’t think he played the way we needed him to play. I think his best hockey was toward the end — just before he got hurt, he was starting to play much better. For him, unfortunately, he gets the shoulder injury that caps off the season for the most part.

"He’s going to need to spend the summer rehabbing and getting stronger, putting a lot of work in. He can really use this (rehab) to get stronger, to get upper body strength and build that core up, not just in the shoulder but everywhere. To me, (his recovery) all depends on how he approaches this summer."

Regin intends to approach the process with great vigour.

"I'll be back skating in August and get in good shape for camp," he said. "They said four to six months but hopefully, it will be quicker than that."Around the boards

The Senators might also be without forward Milan Michalek for the duration of the season. The Czech winger, who suffered a broken foot when hit by a Spezza shot during Ottawa's 4-1 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 26, is out for at least four weeks. "I'm sure going to try," Michalek said when asked if he might return before the April 9 season finale in Boston. "I'm going to try to work hard in rehab now and try to come back for the last few games. We'll see what happens" ... Blueliner Matt Carkner had arthroscopic surgery today on a knee that's been paining him in recent weeks and will be gone for two to four weeks. "He was playing through some pain and some swelling and it was just starting to be too aggravating for him," said Clouston. "If he had his choice, he's still be playing, but it got to the point where there need to be some scoping to clean out the knee" ... The Senators have headed off to Newark, N.J., where they'll begin a four-game road trip Tuesday night against the Devils (7 p.m., Sportsnet East, Team 1200). That'll be followed up by games against the Florida Panthers (Thursday), Tampa Bay Lightning (Friday) and Buffalo Sabres (Sunday).